


An Imperfect Adonis and the White Rabbit

by lady_meatball



Series: The Bear and the White Rabbit [2]
Category: British Actor RPF, Henry Cavill (RPF)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:29:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26979610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lady_meatball/pseuds/lady_meatball
Summary: The day drags on, going from bad to worse, for Katie at Cinema Con 2018; Katie and Henry continue to cross paths, much to his amusement.
Relationships: Henry Cavill/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Bear and the White Rabbit [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1968901
Kudos: 20





	An Imperfect Adonis and the White Rabbit

_“…and it’s not like we’re ever going to see her again.”_

Oh…how those words came back to bite Henry on the arse.

After his rather terse encounter with the angry brunette that morning, he and Kal had made their way back to their hotel room. Henry needed a shower and to eat something to fuel the day of interview junkets spread out before him; the big fuzzball had not a care in the world except the Kong bouncer his dad had stuffed a few treats into for his entertainment.

The amount of time spent in the room wasn’t terribly long, in fact the most time was spent with his team as they deliberated which outfit he would wear and styling his hair. Once all the ‘i’s’ were dotted-the black dress shirt and blue suit jacket with a few buttons left open-and ‘t’s’ crossed-hair blown out straight and styled in a rogueish swoop, he headed down to the main floor and the convention to start the marathon that would be the day.

The schedule was mostly press junket interviews with the odd panel for his upcoming projects that were being peddled thrown in. This was old hat, and the strict timing of the routine was boring as the day went on-the vast majority of the questions that would be repeated over and over again was guaranteed and one could only give the same canned answer some many times before the inability to remain engaged became apparent.

This particular convention, CinemaCon, wasn’t nearly as chaotic and overwhelming as San Diego Comic Con could be, for which he was thankful. Henry looked forward to his appearances at this convention for that very reason, as well as the fact that he could and would be able to seemingly ‘fly under the radar’ once his obligations at it were completed. This wasn’t his first trip to the Southern Nevada desert, and he was looking forward to slipping on his Chiefs hat, finding a seat at the huge spots betting bar inside Caesar’s and catching a few matches with a Guinness or three…completely unnoticed.

Walking towards the photo call line, it was damn near all Henry could think about…that, and the surly woman from earlier.

‘ _She had a badge, she’s somewhere in this madness…_ ’ he thought to himself as queued up behind other actors waiting to be sent down the long line of waiting cameras. ‘ _I do hope she wasn’t fired. That would just be the cherry on top of the cake, wouldn’t it? I’d feel completely horrid if I played a part in firing a woman when it seems the universe keeps kicking her when shes down…_ ’

His inner monologue continued to wax on about how sorry he felt for her as he inched up the line.

‘ _No bloody wonder she was as snappy as she was. The universe had it out for the woman. Here’s hoping your day is going much better than when I last saw you, Miss Rabbit…_ ’

And like magic, the woman in question came into sight.

Henry did a double take, catching a glimpse of her face between photographers in the pit.

She was a little over two thirds down the line, plastered between photogs…and looking dejected.

Getting the go-ahead, Henry stepped out onto the carpet and began his stroll in front of the printed background. He stopped at the marks taped out on the carpet, posing along the way-straight on for a few seconds here, quarter turn one direction, three quarters to the opposite, head left, head right, smirk here, show teeth there, until he pulled up short of the next mark to stop directly in front of where his White Rabbit was.

She wasn’t utilizing the makeup brush belt and it’s contents now…now, she was zoned out and seemed bored as hell as she played bag girl and held an alternate camera for her company.

Henry couldn’t stop the hearty laugh that burst from him at seeing his surly White Rabbit tip her head backwards to look towards the ceiling and blow a heavy sigh through her lips, making them bounce in boredom.

His reaction created plenty of material for the cameras as the sea of lenses before him sounded off with a cacophony of clicks immortalizing the moment for posterity. All the photographers called his name to draw his attention, but the only person he was focused on seemed to be oblivious to his presence as she checked her watch.

‘ _Infuriating woman…_ ’ he thought, making his smile genuinely reach his eyes.

Lifting his right hand, Henry waved, hoping a sudden movement might draw her attention as well as change up the images being captured.

He caught the expression on her face as she flinched and winced at the light reflecting off the face of his own watch shined directly in her eyes. He burst out laughing once more…it seemed her day was not in fact going any smoother and ill luck still shrouded this unfortunate creature like wool on a sheep.

Attention now caught, Henry smiled widely when their eyes locked…and her face fell flat.

Eyes narrowing, she mouthed, **_‘You!_** ’ as she hiked the camera bag higher onto her shoulder…and promptly hit herself in the face when the strap slipped out of her fingers.

Once more Henry laughed, but fought back the need to bark out with a hearty belly laugh at her misfortunes.

Again, her head tipped back and she let a silent scream into the universe before lifting her right hand to her cheekbone and cradling the afflicted flesh. A look so venomous it would have killed a dozen men came hurtling in his direction.

“Demoted is _better_ than fired, right?” Henry chuckled as he spoke directly to her, shrugging his shoulders with a grin.

The White Rabbit glared daggers at him as her hand slowly moved from holding her face, revealing a blossoming red welt on her cheek, before she lifted it to give him the finger.

[Originally posted by allreactions](https://tmblr.co/Z47llv1x4uP6J)

This time, he couldn’t hold back; the deepest belly laugh came roaring out of him.

**_‘I like her…_** ’ was all he heard echoing in his head along with his laughter.

[Originally posted by supersweetstache](https://tmblr.co/ZjEcsY2d7sCEa)

####

Long after the sun hit high noon and began creeping into the western sky, Henry got a long awaited and much needed break. The photo line had kicked the days events off with some entertainment only to be followed by the first of two panels, and then many long hours of press junkets. 

Twice he caught glimpses of the unlucky brunette after the photo call, and each time it seemed as though her tasks became lowlier and lowlier-photographers assistant to talent handler to coffee girl, as he now discovered.

Craft services had spared no expense, as the spread for the talent was wide ranging; crudites, appetizers, buffet style serving of entrees, columns of beverages and desserts lined tables in the designated space.

The White Rabbit stood at the table set up with tall metal urns, her back facing the rest of the room.

Henry watched her from the corner of his eye as he slowly walked the tables, picking over the options to fill a plate with bite sized morsels he could enjoy not only for himself, but to give to Kal when he went back to the ‘room’ his assistant was waiting with him in.

Taking in the casual glimpses he was allowed, Henry noticed her long, dark chocolate hair had been piled high onto her head since the last glimpse he’d caught of her. The mound of hair was desperately trying to escape its confines, and tiny curls were beginning to form in the fine hairs around her face, ears and nape of her neck…probably from the stress of her most _incredible_ day, he thought rather sarcastically.

Piling a small mountain of cheese cubes into the plate for Kal, Henry noticed a movement from the other side of the room and turned just enough to catch his White Rabbit slinking away from the table she appeared to be making coffees at to catch her casually reach for a dessert off the table.

Unable to stop himself, Henry migrated over to the woman on soft feet. She was oblivious to his approach, stuffing the remainder of the tea cake into her mouth and reaching for a small cannoli as he stepped close, leaning in to whispering in her ear.

_“‘It was all very well to say ‘Drink Me’-_ “ Henry recited softly, a wicked smile spreading across his face, “- _‘but the wise little Alice was not going to do that in a hurry. “No, I’ll look first,” she said, “and check to see if it’s marked ‘poison’ or not.”_ ’”

She startled, letting a tiny yelp of surprise escape her as she jumped out of her skin. The cannoli in question, or at least the half that hadn’t yet been consumed, fell to the floor with a muted ‘crack’ of the shell and a ‘splat’ of the filling.

Turning ever so slowly, Henry once again got the full blast of her amazing death stare, this time noting the way the flame of her anger illuminated her emerald eyes.

“You made me _**drop**_ my cannoli.” She growled.

His grin, he felt, could be described as Cheshire Cat-esque as they squared off yet again. Leaning forward, Henry lowered his face towards her, pointing out, “ _Your_ cannoli? I just saw you knick that off the table…the ‘ _Talent Only_ ’ craft services table. Last I checked…you were here for hair and makeup…now it seems you’ve been demoted to, what? Handling? Coffee?”

“ _Mind your business_ , Magic Mike.”

That _fire_ …the _feistiness_ of this woman!

“I was ‘ _minding my business_ ’.” He chuckled, face still leaned in to keep the conversation somewhat private and even the playing field for her. “I was ‘ _minding my business_ ’ this morning as I was coming back from working out when you ran face first into my dog and I. I was ‘ _minding my business_ ’ during the photo call earlier, when you flipped me the bird…so _**incredibly**_ lady-like, by the way…and I was ‘ _minding my business_ ’ just now, grabbing a bite to snack on for myself as well as my dog when I saw you take those desserts from the table. I have no problem with it, I understand you’ve had a terribly shitty day, Miss Amerio-“ he explained, making sure to pronounce her surname as she did from their earlier run in, “-but the staff running the security detail most surely won’t. I would hate for you to get fired and arrested over a tea cake and cannoli.”

The fire banked slightly in her expression, dawning realization at her recklessness showing as she lowered her gaze and nodded. Her soft _‘thank you’_ could hardly be detected over all the other noise in the room.

Reaching around her, Henry snagged another cannoli from the table. Offering it to her, he added, “Truce?”

She accepted it with tiny smile and another nod of her head, “Truce. Thanks… _for that._ ”

“You’re welcome.” He answered, kicking the remains of the murdered cannoli under the table cloth for someone to find later. That got a genuine smile out of her, and even a chuckle. She was pretty when not in the midst of glowering and attempting to kill anybody that was unfortunate enough to cross paths with her expression…just like the photo on her event badge. “How has your day gotten so much worse that now you seem to be the ‘coffee girl’?”

A heavy sigh was her answer.

“You’re _never_ going to believe me…”

Henry knew that any story that began with this five words would be a great one, so he prompted her to go on, his grin growing as she began to explain.

“Well, as you know, I was **_ridiculously_** late this morning…”

Henry nodded, ‘ _yes, go on…_ ’.

“So, as soon as I arrived, I got my ass chewed out by my boss. **Ten minutes** of standing in front of her, listening and letting her just let me have it. She tells me, ‘ _don’t worry about touch ups, Mandy, the other cosmetologist with us, will be handling that…_ ’ while I take the second camera our photographer had and be his assistant. She passed me off. So I was Steve’s, our photographers assistant…until I got knocked into the barricades that separated the photo call line from the pit. I got yelled at for damaging the equipment… _I don’t think he’s seen the crack in one of his lenses yet, actually._ So, yet again, I was handed off to somebody else and became a talent handler. I walked three women to the restrooms, and then all of a sudden, after one **_minor_** instant of _accidentally_ stepping on the train of a dress in the restroom, I suddenly became a runner for refreshments.”

“Sounds like you’ve had a full day.”

Shrugging her shoulders, the look of indifference told Henry she was just ready for it all to be over. He didn’t blame her.

“At least I haven’t spilled coffee or anything else on anybody important. _Yet_ , anyways.” She admitted, a hint of humor at the whole situation finally seeping through her dower mood.

“The day’s still young.” Henry added with small smile. “I mean, you’ve plowed over an Akita, run full on into me…there’s plenty of time yet to add second degree burns to an A-lister.”

“‘Ha-ha’” she retorted with a sarcastic laugh and a roll of her eyes. “You’re **_so_** very funny…Mister…?-“ pausing, she took a long look at him, seemingly ‘seeing’ him for the first time. Eyes growing wide, she apparently recognized him and let an audible ‘gulp’ loose in uneasy embarrassment. “- _uh_ , I just realized in all the time I’ve spent either plastered against you or yelling at you today, we never properly introduced ourselves.”

Henry laughed softly, shifting the plate of nibbly bits from his right hand to his left, offering his hand to meet the one she extended.

“It seems you _**do**_ know who I am…” he snickered before teasing her a little bit more, “Not ‘ _Magic Mike the Man Stripper_ ’ after all, sorry to let you down…just lowly ol’ _Superman_ , at your service. I’m Henry…”

“Katie.” she breathed, shaking his hand in a daze.

“I knew that…or at least that your name is Kathryn.” Henry admitted. “I cheated…saw it on the badge, remember? You corrected me on how to properly saw your last name…’Uh-merry-oh’, not ‘Am-er-ee-oh’, if I remember correctly.”

Backing up quickly, she pulled her hand from his and did an about face. The look of wide eyed shock spread over her face.

“ _I gotta go…_ ” she spat out, snatching up the coffee cups and water bottles from the beverage table before rushing out of the room.

“ _ **Again**_ with the ‘ _White Rabbit_ ’ impersonation…” he sighed in amusement, calling out after her, “ _Stay out of any more trouble! Don’t want you losing your head!_ ”

All he heard called out back over her shoulder was “ _Shut up, Alice!_ ”

####

“Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit…”

Standing with my back to a wall, I waited for the next person to order me to fetch something for the talent.

Not only had I been (quite literally) running into ‘ _Gods Most Perfect Male Specimen trademark_ ’ all damn day, but he was one of the biggest movie stars on the planet…and I had spent more time than not either shooting him dirty looks or taking my anger and frustration from the day out on him.

That wasn’t ‘ _me_ ’. I had no idea what had gotten into me, but the universe throwing a never ending supply of shit-pies in my face certainly hadn’t helped. Then, to top it all off, once the haze of self preserving blindness lifted and I got a good look at him, the solid brick-shit-house of a man turned out to be Henry Cavill.

“And I called him a **_man stripper_**.” I groaned, lifting a hand to slap against my forehead. “God, _I’m an idiot._ ”

Wallowing in my self imposed embarrassment, I pushed my face into my hands and sunk into a crouch against the wall.

The tinkling jingle of metal approaching told me I wasn’t alone in the hall, and I had better get up, lest I be caught ‘resting’ on the job…but honestly, what was left for me to loose at that point. I knew for certain I wouldn’t be called back to assist on any future events for Stephanie, so why bother jumping to attention when I could allow myself another moment to compose myself before plastering in yet another forced smile.

That is, until the feeling of a cold, wet nose pushed itself into my ear and began snuffling.

“We really must stop meeting like this…” Henry offered with a smile as I leaned away to look at my furry assailant before his breathing damaged my eardrum. “Are you _actively_ trying to get fired now?”

The big black and white dog extended his neck, following me as I retreated from his face. He seemed determined to lick my face, and the next thing I knew, I was knocked off my feet, sprawled on the carpet with nearly one hundred pounds of muscle and fur wanting a cuddle pinning me in place.

“ _Oh geez_ …look, I’m ** _sorry_** I ran you over this morning…but this isn’t… _yes, hello_ … ** _thank you_** for the kisses, bubs…-“ I sputtered as the beast knocked the wind out of me with his attention as he laid on top of me and began the pattern of sniffling, huffing and licking, turning my face to avoid as much of the massive tongue as I could before changing tactics and addressing Henry, “-can you get your dog off of me, please?”

“Why would I, he seems to like you?” The handsome bastard volleyed right back. A slightly Cheshire Cat-like grin spread over his face as he towered above me, massive arms crossed in front of his chest. “No need to worry, he’s a teddy bear. He won’t bite.”

“That wasn’t what I was worried about…” I offered weakly, giving up the fight when the dog melted into a living rug on top of me. Laying his head on top of mine, all I could see, smell, and taste was fur. I had just enough range of motion to turn my head and lift my arm to push the massive head off me enough to breathe. “…I can’t **_breathe_**. And he’s _panting_ in my ear…”

“Yes, he does that from time to time…” The smirk grew larger; he was enjoying this.

[Originally posted by justaholesir](https://tmblr.co/ZMrjcY2lrgu8q)

The small bear weighing me down decided it needed to shift his weight, and once more it’s head was covering my face and one back leg was brought up to rest underneath his body…only the final resting place for this dogs huge paw was nestled into my crotch.

“ _Ummm_ …your dog is sexually harassing me, Superman.” I stated, rather point blankly before adding under my breath, “ _Great, most action I’ve seen in awhile, and it’s the damn dog…”_

“ **Kal** … _come here.”_ Henry called and the dog lumbered up to heel at his side. The animal in question had the nerve to sit leaning into his master’s leg with mile wide canine grin and a twinkle in his eye…I certainly saw the resemblance. “ ** _Better?_** ”

“Yes, it is, thank you very much.” I offered, somewhat bedraggled as I sat up, arms fanned out behind me to support myself. “Don’t you have more important places to be, or things to be doing other than standing over me, smirking like that, _Mister Movie Star_? Please, don’t let me keep you…”

“Oh, we’re in _no_ hurry…”

Eyes narrowing, I took a deep and even breath before letting it out in a rush. The insufferable man rocked onto his heels, grinning like a fool. Shifting my weight to my left, I lifted my right arm in his general direction.

“ _Oh_ , would you like some _assistance_?” Henry asked with a chuckle. “A strong and independent young woman such as yourself, I wasn’t going to _assume_ …”

“ **Yes** , you _ass_!” I laughed as I extended my hand and wiggled my fingers at him. “Help a strong independent woman up off the floor or I’m gonna tell the world that Superman doesn’t have any _manners_.”

“ _You wouldn’t_ …” He shot back, stepping forward to accept my hand, “My mother would beat me within an inch of my life and then disown me.”

“Try me.” I teased as I felt the first genuine grin spread over my face that day.

Henry’s expression flashed with amusement before tilting his head in my direction to signal me he was ready when I was. Responding in kind, I gripped his much larger hand and before I could initiate the first move to get my feet underneath me, I was lifted from the carpet; my feet slid over the short pile threads and only stopped when they collided with the black dress shoes he wore. Once more, I slammed into his body, hardly causing him to move at all…he truly **was** built like a brick shit house.

I let out a soft ‘ _oof_ ’ at the collision.

Catching my breath meant I was inhabiting his prime specimens personal space…close enough to feel the warmth radiating off him through the black dress shirt and blue suit jacket, close enough to smell the minty freshness of the gum or mint he had in his mouth and close enough to be engulfed in his no doubt very _expensive_ cologne that smelled exactly like what a man as gorgeous as him should wear-the perfect blend of masculinity, the smokiness of wooden undertones with a touch of something floral to cut the sharpness.

He brought his left hand to the back of my arm to steady my stance before breaking the hold he had on my hand.

‘ _Danger…danger, Will Robinson!_ ’ the little voice inside my head proclaimed while I found my footing and looked up to offer my thanks. 

[Originally posted by atomic-chronoscaph](https://tmblr.co/ZIk3Es2XGBAPs)

The difference in our heights became apparent at such close proximity. I had worn ballet flats, and stood at five foot nine inches when I remembered to stand straight; I had always been ‘the amazon’ of my friends and family, so anytime I had to tilt my head back to make eye contact was a novelty. The little voice kept repeating that famous catchphrase over and over in my skull as the novelty of not only feeling dwarfed by this beast of a Brit but the even more rare feeling of being petite was replaced with another feeling as memories of the past came flooding back to my mind…anxiety

Henry’s face tilted downwards, offering a soft smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“My pleasure.” He spoke quietly, and I saw the tiny crinkle of lines around his eyes form, projecting the expression and sentiment was genuine. Crystalline blue stared back at me, and I didn’t hear what Henry said next, as I found what some could claim as a flaw in this perfect Adonis.

“ _Heterochromia_ …” I breathed. His brows lifted his forehead in question to what I said, lips pressing together. I broke the grip of our hands interlocking to allow me to lift my right arm from between our bodies to point at his left eye, adding, “You have heterochromia in your left eye…I never knew…you aren’t **perfect** after all.”

“ _Oh…_ ” he offered, getting just a tad bashful, “The top half of my eye… _yeah_ , I guess you could say God ran out of blue, so he threw in the little bit of brown he had left over into the mix. My brothers claim its from one too many punches in the face, but my mum…she liked to tell me that was a mark of the Fey. Growing up in Britain, well, legends of all the magical and mysterious beings are everywhere. Let’s just say that young Henry _might_ have believed her for a little longer than he should have…”

The imminent feeling of something building washed over me, and I stepped back, clearing my throat before anything else happened just as a voice called out to get Henry’s attention from down the hallway.

Twisting just enough to look over his shoulder, Henry caught sight of the person, greeting him and reassuring he’d be along in a moment.

Kal, thinking he’d been forgotten, pushed his face into my hand at my side. Smiling down at him, I scratched the side of his fluffy face before migrating to the top of his head and finally settling on the plush softness of an ear.

“I have to go-“ he pointed out redundantly, lifting a hand to motion over his shoulder to the room down the hallway. Clearing his throat, he seemed to be working up the nerve to add something before settling on, “-once more, I am sorry about Kal knocking you over…”

“And pinning me to the floor.”

“And pinning you to the floor.” He smiled, snapping his fingers to get his dogs attention. The huge fuzz ball ambled over, standing at his leg, ready to go. His huge head lifted to beam a happy expression at me. “He seems to truly like you, he’s usually only ever like that with me-“ Henry explained, rubbing his hand over the huge head and radiating love for the dog as he added, “-aren’t you, Bear?”

“Thanks.” I said softly, watching man and beast share a look of love and connection. “He’s pretty awesome, even when he’s dead weight and got a paw in my private business.”

“ **Henry!** ” came echoing down the hallway again, and I lifted my hand to point behind Henry.

“You should probably get going…” I told him.

Looking up from Kal, he nodded in agreement.

“Yeah…what are you doing later? After all this is finished for the day?” He asked quickly.

Surprised at his sudden change in tactic, I gave my head the tiniest of shakes to clear my ears, before asking, “Sorry? Did you just ask me what I was doing after this?”

“Yes.” He confirmed with a nod, still stroking his dogs ear. It was coming back to me, hearing this hulking man brought his dog with him all over the world, his living, breathing security blanket. “What are your plans for the rest of the evening?”

“ _Ummm_ …I don’t really _have_ any plans…” I began to explain but he cut me off.

“Then can I buy you a drink?” He inquired, a tiny hint of fear tinging his expression. He couldn’t possibly be nervous, not somebody that looked like him and somebody that looked like me…but he went on to explain, “I mean, I’d like to apologize for the part I played in your horrendous day? _Please_? Just drinks and friendly conversation if you’re up to it…”

I hesitated, knowing I still had an hour and a half long drive home to tackle to get back to my side of the mountain, and that I was going to be completely drained after todays events…but how often would the opportunity to drink with a bonafide movie star present itself?

“I have to drink home…” I tried to claim, but he cut me off yet again.

“Take an Uber…I’ll pay…”

“It’s, like, an hour and a half drive…” I countered.

“I’m good for it, i promise.” He joked, and I could feel my resolve crumbling.

“Fine. One drink, **ONE**! That’s it.” I caved, earning another wide smile from him. “Now _go_!”

“Seven o’clock!” Henry ordered, pointing a meaty fist in my direction to drive home his instructions, “The cocktail lounge. Don’t be late.”

Lifting my hand even higher, I touched my pointer and middle fingers to my forehead in a salute as Henry and Kal turned to walk the rest of the carpet to the door of their next junket. Kal looked back over his shoulder, tail wagging as much as it could being curled over his back and his tongue lolled out the side of his head as though he was saying ‘bye’ for now.

“What did I just get myself into?” I breathed in disbelief as the door to the room I stood outside opened and the next cycle of junkets began.


End file.
